1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to methods and devices for inspecting and treating affected surfaces of a patient's extremities, such as limbs, and relates more particularly to methods and devices for elevating and supporting a patient's affected extremity to allow full assessment of, and access to the extremity to facilitate proper care and treatment, including performing surgical procedures.
2. Description of the Related Art
Patients who suffer from acute or chronic wounds, edema, and other conditions that affect the skin and that penetrate dermal layers, or who are subject to amputation, debridement, or other surgical applications, often require skilled care or hospitalization for proper assessment and treatment. “Acute” wounds are defined as wounds that are generally less than 30 days old, such as those resulting from trauma, burns, or surgery. “Chronic” wounds are defined as wounds that are generally greater than 30 days old, such as diabetic ulcers, venous stasis ulcers, arterial ulcers, non-healing surgical wounds, cancerous lesions, or pressure ulcers. “Edema” is defined as the abnormal accumulation of fluid beneath the skin, often resulting from renal failure, congestive heart failure, and other cardiovascular diseases.
During the assessment and treatment of conditions such as those described above, two or more caregivers are commonly required to manually elevate and stabilize a patient's extremity in order to conduct a proper visual inspection of an affected area (i.e., areas affected by any of the conditions described above) and to administer any required treatments. In some cases, it is necessary to elevate a patient's extremity using manual force for extended periods of time while treatments are administered. Providing care in such a manner can be extremely labor-intensive, time-consuming, and can expose caregivers to the risk of back or other injuries. Moreover, the patient may be caused undue stress during the process of being forcefully moved and manipulated, possibly resulting in further injury. Furthermore, the physical effort required to properly elevate and stabilize the patient's extremity may exceed that which can be provided by the attendant caregivers, especially in the case of larger patients. For example, it may be necessary to stabilize a patient's leg to facilitate a surgical procedure such as amputation. Providing the requisite stability by manually holding the leg may be impossible if the weight of the leg is greater than can be supported by attendant caregivers.
To reduce stress or injury to themselves and to provide greater comfort to patients during examination and treatment, caregivers in a variety of settings will often attempt to elevate and support patients' extremities using pillows or cushions. This method can be effective in some situations, such as where only a small area of a patient's extremity requires treatment. However, pillows, cushions, and similar supportive structures have the disadvantage of blocking access to the lower surfaces of extremities that rest upon them, such as the underside of an arm or a leg. Using such structures for support is therefore ineffective in situations where caregivers or surgeons are required to view or access most or all of the circumference of a patient's affected extremity, such when the extremity must be wrapped in bandaging or during extensive debridement (i.e., the removal of dead, damaged, or infected tissue). Furthermore, such supportive structures still require manual effort to lift an extremity onto them.
Over the past several decades, a number of devices have been developed to assist caregivers with supporting a patient's affected limb during medical examination and treatment. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,874,184 to Chandler, 6,026,812 to Lipson et. al, and 5,000,168 to Lipson all describe devices that cradle the lower surface of a patient's extremity while providing convenient visualization of, and access to, an upper surface of the extremity. However, as with the pillows and cushions discussed above, each of these devices blocks access to the full circumference of the supported extremity.
In view of the numerous difficulties associated with the assessment and treatment of a patient's affected extremities and the persistent increase in obesity and related indications that make it difficult to manually lift and stabilize such extremities, it would be advantageous to have a method and device for lifting and supporting a patient's extremity while reducing stress on both the patient and attendant caregivers. It would further be advantageous to have such a method and device for providing full access to the affected areas of the extremity to facilitate assessment, visualization, photography, measurement, wound management, treatment, and surgery. It would further be advantageous to have such a method and device that can be reconfigured to accommodate various different sizes of extremities and that can be easily sanitized. It would further be advantageous to have such a device and method that can be adapted for use in a variety of home, moderate care, clinical, hospital, and surgical settings.